Wolf and Prejudice
by Prince Arjuna
Summary: To be born as a female was a disadvantage for a white wolf tengu, and Momiji Inubashiri wouldn't deny it. To make it blunt, Sexism is bad, even for tengu. Momiji POV.


Wolf and Prejudice

Written by Albireo Imma

Disclaimer: I never own Touhou Project, and sexism is bad.

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My fellow tengu said that being a female is a disadvantage, especially for the white wolf tengu. The female ones were often being looked down by the others, being inferior, almost unworthy.

And I could say that I was in disadvantage too.

Because I am a female.

Momiji Inubashiri.

No matter how manly it really sounded, it couldn't change the fact that I am a female. My parents gave me that name because like the other white wolf tengu, sexism was almost everything. Even the leader of a clan should be male to lead the other tengu. And I, being a female, just like my other fellow female white wolf tengu, also being looked down by the males of the clan.

So, I made up my mind, I wanted to be a worthy white wolf tengu.

Unlike crow tengu, white wolf tengu had its own social hierarchy, and the female ones were in the lowest level. The female ones were viewed as the source of sexual pleasure for the male ones, besides of being the ones that gave birth and raised the young pups. As the male ones were appointed for a job to safeguard the mountain, the female ones were asked to stay in homes.

My father was a white wolf tengu with a high status, the one who directly served under Lord Tenma. He was quite old when my mother birthed me, and my mother died when I was about seven years old. My father dreamed to have a male child as a successor, and having me as the only child was an obstacle for his dream.

I expected that he would loathe me for being born as a female, but it was proved wrong as he brought me to where Lord Tenma resided. Well, I was a child when I was brought to Lord Tenma, and I never knew that Lord Tenma was that huge. We, the female tengu never knew that the grand leader of all tengu was that big. And that wasn't the only information that surprised me.

_Please allow my daughter to be a part of the white wolf tengu's troopers._

Even Lord Tenma showed a puzzled face when my father made that demand, and the other high-ranked white wolf tengu whispered to themselves. The crow tengu didn't show any reaction, it couldn't be helped since unlike us, the crow tengu were quite liberal.

Thus, I was sent to the camp for the new recruits to be trained, and I was the only female at that time. As usual, I was viewed like an inferior being by the fellow recruits. I was abused, verbally and physically. Those boys liked to pull may pranks on me, like pouring water on me when I was sleeping, leaving me behind when we were in survival training. To be blunt, living in the camp was a harsh one, and I wished to go back to my house.

Since the camp was made specifically for male ones, I had to live with the boys in a same tent, and the abuse continued. They liked to pull my tail and scribble on my face when I was sleeping. Not to mention that when I transformed into my white wolf form, they said that I looked like a loser (maybe because I was too small compared to the others). I ended up crying because of that.

Sometimes, I wished to get out from that camp to have a good normal life as a normal female white wolf tengu. I had enough for all of these, being looked down by my peers.

And I would go out from the camp for real if she didn't show up.

Aya Shameimaru.

She was a crow tengu, and like my father, she was a high-ranked tengu (being a crow tengu was the difference) who served directly under Lord Tenma. She was, in fact, quite older than me, despite having a look like a young girl, maybe about two hundred years older than me. Among the tengu, she was a powerful one and even the ordinary white wolf tengu's trooper would be afraid by just hearing her name.

She came to the camp after hearing that a female white wolf tengu was there. She came to me and had a talk. Well, contrary to my common belief, she was quite brash despite being a powerful crow tengu. But I didn't mind since she also quite understood about my situation, being the only female in the group.

_Don't give up._

She said that to me. After she left, I continued for my training. I worked hard for that and after many years of training, I was finally accepted as a white wolf tengu's trooper. Only a few of us were selected, and I was lucky for that. We were given a task to safeguard the mountain with the help of the crow tengu. After a hundred years of hardship, finally I was promoted to be a high-ranked tengu who served under Lord Tenma.

Aya was quite happy for this and she took me as her personal advisor. Hmm… Bunbunmaru, I never thought that Aya was the one who made that. Well, put it aside. My father was delighted for having me as his successor. I served under Lord Tenma for two years before my father passed away due to a natural cause. As a youkai, my father was a long-lived tengu, but he's not an immortal. It was quite sad that someone I cherished so much had to leave me. But I knew it for certain that he died with a smile.

About having a female white wolf tengu who served under Lord Tenma had opened the eyes of the female white wolf tengu within our society. The parents began to send their daughters to the camps to be trained as troopers, and soon, the sexism within our kind was abolished. Now, if I'm not wrong, about two hundred female white wolf tengu served under Lord Tenma, and me as the first female was their leader.

I was quite happy for that. Now, we were not viewed by the male ones as inferior beings. In fact, the female ones were the stronger among the two kinds. We served under Lord Tenma and in the same time, we birthed the young tengu and took care of them. Well, I was still single and I hadn't met anyone who captured my heart yet, but the male ones couldn't do that, right?

And I, Momiji Inubashiri, am proud to be a female, same like these little pups too. They were lucky to be born within the society where the sexism was already abolished. Unlike me, they were treated equally like the male ones. They didn't have to suffer like me.

To be born in a society where the female ones were treated badly, life sure was a hard one. Then again, if I didn't endure the hardship and stay in my house like a normal female white wolf tengu would do, the future generation wouldn't get the privilege they had enjoyed now.

_Momiji-shama, Momiji-shama… didn't you say that you're going to teach us the new technique?_

Ah, I almost forgot about that, girls. I'm sorry. Well, shall we begin?

_Yay!_

Seeing their expressions made me felt that I should make sure that the past even would never happen again. That evening, I spent some precious moments with those pups, those innocent little beings who would eventually take my place to protect the mountain where I, Aya and my late father used to live at. I didn't mind if they would eventually take my place in the future, because it's better than being seen as inferior beings because of different gender.

SEXISM IS BAD.

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Author's Note: Hello, this is my second one-shot Touhou Project fanfic, and this story is about my favorite character, Momiji Inubashiri. The real moral value of this fic is 'sexism is bad'. I've taken that white wolf tengu's society is about the same like the wild wolves in real world, which that the male ones are the dominant. I hope people may like this story and I wish to have this story reviewed, but no flames.

Albireo Imma


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